Michael Tate, the legal academic and former long-term Senator, Justice Minister and Australian Ambassador, was ordained by the Archbishop of Hobart, the Most Rev. Adrian Doyle before almost 1000 people packed into St Mary's Cathedral, Hobart, on Friday evening.
Guests included former Governor-General, Mr Bill Hayden, former Prime Minister, Mr Gough Whitlam, and Mrs Margaret Whitlam and former Attorneys-General Lionel Bowen and Michael Duffy. Congratulatory messages were receoved from Pope John Paul II and former Prime Ministers Bob Hawke and Paul Keating.
In his address at the end of the ordination, Fr Tate said: "Late as I am, I am going to write a poem of priesthood with my life. Of course, I will only manage to scribble a few stanzas ... but you will recognise the better lines because those better lines and phrases will be recognizably yours, gleaned from your friendships. I ask you to continue to help me to write that poem."
Fr Tate offered his Mass of Thanksgiving on Saturday morning at the Sandy Bay parish, where he has been resident for the past 12 months.
- Cath Media Office (TAS)